Friday Leftovers (Aug. 13)

Word Association

As always, play along here.

1. Coma :: Hospital
2. Aristotle :: Socrates
3. Pink eye :: Contagious
4. Expensive :: Costly
5. Dancer :: Ballet
6. Lipstick :: Lip gloss
7. Buffer :: Zone
8. Stilettos :: Heels
9. Booming :: Voice
10. Rap :: Music

I suppose a better one for Aristotle would have been Plato, but I only realized that after a quick web search after I finished this. Socrates died about 13 years before Aristotle was born. Seems like there's a little bit of a theme with 4-6 and 8, and maybe if dancer were further below I'd have said something else. And booming voice, I don't exactly have a booming voice.

Five Question Friday

Here's today's installment of Five Question Friday.

1. Have you ever visited another country?

If you've been a regular reader of this blog over the last year or so, you've been along with me as I've traveled to Costa Rica, Canada and Mexico.

I've been to other countries as well: Japan, Germany and France, the latter of which was just a day trip.

Mexico was the first foreign country I visited, but since my parents were from there it wasn't that big of a deal for me to go back and forth. The first real trip I took to a country that seemed foreign to me, though, was to Trinidad & Tobago in 2001. Chances are you're not familiar with it or couldn't find it on a map. Trinidad & Tobago is a small island nation, which consists of one large island (Trinidad) and one smaller island (Tobago). It's off the coast of Venezuela, and the southernmost part of the Caribbean.

I scanned in some pictures I took there, and have thought about blogging about it, but until that progresses beyond the thinking stage I'll share some now.

I stayed in the capital, Port-of-Spain, for three weeks. I went there to cover a soccer tournament and was sent by a company and they paid for everything. It was one of the best trips I've ever taken.

I was expecting beaches every day but the main beach was a half hour out of the city. Port-of-Spain is, well, a port and does not have a lot of beaches. Maracas Bay is the place you want to go to when you're in Trinidad.

The weather there is awesome, and it doesn't really change: high of 86, low of 78, chance of rain. Every day of the year. The locals don't own jackets.

2. Where is the strangest place you have ever been?

This would have to be a tie between Hiroshima, Japan, and Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

They were equally depressing. You can't help but just feel totally and completely bummed out after visiting those places. What struck me was the amount of atrocities and death that went down there, at the very spot I was standing at the time. How many people stood where I stood and suffered some horrendous and unconscionable fate?

I was glad I visited those places and I may blog about them in the future (they're part of the previous trips I took where I'd have to scan pictures of in order to talk about them but haven't done so) and may get into more detail then, but in short both places were utterly depressing, and strange to think that I was there at the very spot where so many things happened.

On that dour note...

3. What is your favorite season?

Well, I would say winter because of Christmas but January is always such a letdown so that's out. Spring is okay, but school tends to drag it out.

I'd have to say fall because that's when both the girls' birthdays are and they really enjoy Halloween and Thanksgiving, and then it's still technically fall when the holiday season begins. It's just a real fun time for us here because the girls really enjoy that time.

4. What one song will always cheer you up?

Lately it's been this one that I've found hilariously funny whenever I hear it:



5. What Disney character do you resemble most?

Tough question. I thought about it and I think I'd have to say James P. Sullivan, aka...

Sulley, from Monsters Inc.

Sulley is a big tough guy and, well, I like to think I'm a tough guy too but not quite sure about that one. Sulley could kick some butt if he had to and again I'd like to think I would as well. Sulley is not going to win a 5K anytime soon, and neither will I. But dammit, we'll both finish.